APTP in the News
Angela Davis, with a fist raised, during a Juneteenth protest at the Port of Oakland (Yalonda M. James / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Unions Are Taking a Stand for Black Lives
Karina Piser | The Nation, June 24, 2020
“‘People always think about labor and community, but labor is community,’ [Cat Brooks, APTP co-founder] said. ‘When you look at unions, the vast majority are black and brown, and the vast majority of people targeted by state violence are black and brown. It’s not just about state violence, but about economic violence,’” she added.
Cat Brooks’ headshot (Cat Brooks)
Local activists on how this racial justice movement fits in Oakland's history
Caroline Hart | KTVU, June 22, 2020
“‘This is a critical moment,’ [Cat Brooks, APTP co-founder] said. ‘Where demands that we've been making for years, and years, and years, are being considered because it's very clear that the people are fed up.’”
“She said that some of these demands recall the Black Panther Party, and that she believes Oakland is poised to be fertile ground for material change.”
A birds-eye view of “Black Lives Matter” painted in yellow on a city street (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Today Is Juneteenth. Here Are 7 Things You Can Do to Fight for Racial Justice.
Keya Vakil | Courier, June 19, 2020
“‘The most important thing that people can do with this moment is not squander this moment,’ said Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti-Police Terror Project and executive director of the Justice Teams Network. ‘This is a continuation of a long fight against police violence, but we have an opportunity to extract some wins.’”
APTP Co-Founder Cat Brooks
Miscellaneous Files From Racial Justice Activists in the US
Mary Wang | Guernica, June 19, 2020
“One thing we have to understand is that whenever we push back, the state is going to push back harder. That’s their job, and the police are the frontline forces of that. So it’s not surprising to me that, even though there are millions in the street across the country, we continue to see state-sanctioned murder of Black bodies. We need a complete transformation of police and policing of this country if we’re ever going to end the epidemic of police violence.” – Cat Brooks, APTP Co-Founder
A New York City street with an NYPD car in the foreground (Essence)
The Abolitionist Project: Building Alternatives To Policing
Tracey Ross | Essence, June 18, 2020
“This is a marathon, not a sprint. We should be focused on radical reforms and not tinkering around the edges,” says [Cat] Brooks. “We need to chip away at the current system little by little, piece by piece until we have truly reimagined public safety.”
Oscar Grant Plaza and Oakland City Hall (Pete Rosos)
Oakland’s City Council debates ‘defunding’ the police
Darwin BondGraham | The Oaklandside, June 17, 2020
“[James] Burch of the Anti Police-Terror Project said that although the idea of ‘defunding’ the police was treated as a non-starter by the City Council three years ago, he’s not surprised it has now entered the political mainstream. He said he thinks this will change all future budget debates in Oakland and the rest of the nation.
'‘‘The ‘defund OPD’ message has always been received well by the people. It’s always resonated and had popular support’ said Burch. ‘The glaring contradiction that is the amount of money we invest in policing has been exposed to the public. This is here to stay.’”
Erica Cuellar, a volunteer, is practicing CPR on Asantewaa Boykin, a registered nurse and founder of the MH first team (Sammy Caiola/CapRadio)
Should Police Be Responding To Mental Health Calls? This Group Says No, And Offers An Alternative
Sammy Caiola | CapRadio, June 16, 2020
“The M.H. First team did not have a tally of the number of calls they’ve taken. But they say they were often going out several times a night before COVID-19 hit. They’re still actively trying to get the word out to the community. […]
On nights they don’t get calls, M.H. First team members train new volunteers and monitor social media for cries for help. They also drive around to businesses that are open late and give them the phone number to call, in case employees see anything strange happening outside.
[Asantewaa Boykin,, APTP co-founder] says the group is actively engaged in conversations about what defunding the police and replacing them with community workers would look like.”
Illustrated hands and branches with leaves. Text in center reads “Social Distance Assistance” (NPR)
Social Justice Assistance
Social Distance Assistance (podcast), June 16, 2020
“There were definitely pandemic concerns that generated the idea [of car caravans], and so how do we keep resisting and not die, basically? And not expose our community, right? Because Black and Brown people are the ones that are catching and dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than any other demographic, and those are the people that come. So if we’re talking about preserving Black life, we wanted to be sure we were engaging in ways that preserves Black life.” – Cat Brooks, APTP Co-Founder
Black Lives Matter protest in Miami (MGN Online)
Calls to defund police met with mixed responses
Anisah Muhammad | The Final Call, June 16, 2020
“James Burch, the policy director for the Anti Police-Terror Project, a police abolitionist organization, falls in the second category. ‘We do not believe in this current system of policing. We believe defunding the police is a pathway to abolition,’ he said. The organization, based in Oakland, California, started a ‘Defund OPD’ campaign five years ago. ‘We must be clear that when we say ‘defund the police,’ it’s to invest in the community. We need money invested into our Black and Brown communities,’ Mr. Burch said.”
James Burch with fist raised
“Be as Big as the Moment” (Interview with James Burch, APTP Policy Director)
The Force, June 15, 2020
“Our hope is to provide organizers across the country a blueprint to fight state repression. And we are, of course, not alone. There are absolutely brilliant organizers doing that across the country. More specifically, organizers in Minnesota have allowed us to believe that we can just demand that they dismantle our police system and that can be a thing that happens. And I just want to sit on that for a second because that is a new thing that I believe is instantly possible that I didn't believe several days ago. I think one of the other responsibilities in this moment is to constantly challenge what we believe is possible at all levels and not be afraid to be as big as the moment and settle for lesser demands than the things that we really want.”
Protesters face a line of police in riot gear
“Cops don’t keep us safe” (Interview with Cat Brooks, APTP Co-Founder)
The Forge, June 15, 2020
“We've tried body cameras. Obama had his whatever. We've tried citizen oversight. We've tried all these other things. And by “we” I'm talking about the general masses. And I think people have had enough. And it's become clear to a much larger segment of our society that policing and the way that it happens in our society does not work. It's not working. It's just not.”
MH First volunteers (Los Angeles Times)
‘Defund the police’: What does it mean?
Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2020
“In Sacramento, Mental Health First, a part of the Anti Police-Terror Project, provides support and de-escalation assistance for people experiencing a mental health crisis. ‘We have to be peer-run and peer-led because no one can inform us on how to best deal with someone in crisis than someone who has been in crisis. We show compassion because really, for me personally, safety is more about – especially in this context – is about being heard and being listened to.’'' [– Asantewaa Boykin, APTP Co-Founder]
California Highway Patrol and San Francisco Sheriff Department (Christopher Victoria/Special to the SF Examiner)
Defund the Police? CRISES Act Plots Possible Course
Grace Z. Li | SF Weekly, June 8, 2020
“James Burch, a member of the Anti Police-Terror Project, can name two Black men off the top of his head who were killed by police while struggling with mental health crises in the Bay Area.
“‘Instead of trained professionals responding with compassion, law enforcement responded with their guns,’ Burch says.”
Jadyn Polk, wearing a mask, seen in front of a mural of George Floyd (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
These young activists are no strangers to racism — and they’re not waiting for anyone else to fix it
Leonardo Castañeda, Aldo Toledo, David DeBolt, Fiona Kelliher, Annie Sciacca | The Mercury News, June 7, 2020
“For Jadyn Polk, 14, going to protests was just a part of how she grew up. The daughter of prominent Oakland activist Cat Brooks, Polk has been going to marches since she was 3 years old and estimates she’s been tear-gassed by police 10 times.
“‘I knew what my skin color meant from a young age, I knew what it was like to be black in America,’ Polk said Wednesday. ‘When I look in the mirror, I don’t see an aggressive, stereotypical, violent black person. I don’t know why people see it that way.’”
A banner with a painting of Alex Nieto, who was murdered by SFPD in March 2014 (Gabrielle Lurie/The Guardian)
'George Floyd happens every day': activists seek justice for police killings the media forgot
Abené Clayton | The Guardian, June 7, 2020
“‘Anytime we step out in somebody’s name, we’re stepping in everybody’s name,’ said Cat Brooks, an organizer with Oakland’s Anti Police Terror Project (APTP). ‘Black people and brown people are very clear that George Floyd happens every day.’”
Governor Gavin Newsom holds up a copy of Assembly Bill 392 after signing it in August 2019 (Renée C. Byer)
Affirmative action and reparations. California’s black lawmakers say it’s time to do more
Hannah Wiley and Amy Chance | The Sacramento Bee, June 5, 2020
“James Burch, policy director for the Anti Police-Terror Project, said both AB 392 and the protests have paved the way for more ambitious proposals, like his organization’s advocacy for taking money from police organizations to instead fund community organizations skilled in mental health crisis intervention.
“‘It is a shifting political moment,” Burch said. “Whereas a lot of legislators did not have an appetite for real change to law enforcement even a month ago, things have changed dramatically now.’”
Tur-Ha Ak, co-founder of APTP (Community Ready Corps)
Black activists with deep Oakland organizing roots reflect on a week of protest
Jeannine Etter and Sarah Belle Lin | Berkeleyside, June 5, 2020
“I’ll say to folks sitting at home, there are multiple things they can do to engage. Not the least of which is to be critical of narratives that are presented that criminalize folks who are doing the work. Organize and consult with some folks who have been organizing, and have some understanding of how to create structure.
At the same time, we also have to let the young people do what they do. We have to let the people’s anger be the people’s anger. The chips are gonna fall where the chips fall.” – Tur-Ha Ak, co-founder of Anti Police-Terror Project
Demonstrators at APTP’s #FuckYourCurfew demonstration on June 3, 2020 (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
Oakland School Board to Weigh Dissolving District's Police Force
Julia McEvoy | KQED, June 5, 2020
"‘Right now we're calling on the community, our allies, supporters, anyone that wants to stand for black students and black sanctuary to call on the school board members to eliminate school police,’ said Jasmine Williams, development and communications manager for the Black Organizing Project (BOP). On Friday, BOP, along with the Anti Police-Terror Project and other coalition members caravanned to several schools to rally around the issue.”
Demonstrators at APTP’s #FuckYourCurfew demonstration, June 3, 2020 (Jim Wilson/The New York Times)
‘This curfew is meant to silence our voices.’
Thomas Fuller | The New York Times, June 4, 2020
“‘The curfew is meant to silence our voices and keep us off the streets,’ said Amissa Miller, who attended the demonstration with a sign that read ‘Black Liberation Is Essential Work.’ ‘Essential workers are exempt from the curfew and what we are doing here is essential,’ she said.”
A person raises their fist at 14th Street and Broadway in Oakland (Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle)
Alameda County should create a budget that shows black lives matter
Amber Akemi Platt | The San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 2020
“Instead of pouring more money into harmful incarceration and senseless punishment, the Board of Supervisors could invest in health and justice for our county. They could address immediate community needs — such as providing housing assistance to unstably housed residents, guaranteeing personal protective equipment for frontline essential workers, and ensuring low-wage workers can access paid sick leave — and set us up in the long term to thrive.”
Memorial for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (Yesica Prado/San Francisco Public Press)
Oakland Lifts City Curfew After Thousands Defied It Wednesday
Meka Boyle | San Francisco Public Press, June 3, 2020
“‘We will not submit to Trump's ‘law and order’ state,’ said Cat Brooks, Co-Founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project and a mayoral candidate who ran against Schaaf in 2018. ‘We will not go away until we defund the Oakland Police Department.’”
Demonstrator holds a sign that reads “Hands up don’t shoot” at Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland (Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle)
Bay Briefing: Why these protests are different
Kellie Hwang | The San Francisco Chronicle, June 1, 2020
”The protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis that have erupted in the Bay Area and across the country are coming at a particularly explosive time during the Trump administration, amid the coronavirus pandemic and an economic disaster.
“‘This whole thing was a powder keg waiting to explode,’ said Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti-Police Terror Project, a group that organized a car caravan protest in Oakland on Sunday.
“‘Pre-pandemic, it was bad enough. But now that we’re in the pandemic, black people are getting messed up even more.’”
A white car with a sign reading “No justice no peace” (Bob Butler / KCBS Radio)
Cars Caravan Through Oakland To Protest Police Brutality
Bob Butler | KCBS Radio, May 31, 2020
“Demonstrations like these are normally found at Frank Ogawa Plaza, but Anti-Police Terror Project organizer Cat Brooks said these are not normal times.
“‘Ever since the pandemic hit, everything from the housing rallies to the rally against Santa Rita jail, to the rally for Steven Taylor, this is how we’ve been doing it to try to keep people safe,’ she told KCBS Radio. ‘We’re in the middle of a pandemic that attacks the lungs.’”
A car with a sign reading “Black lives matter” taped on a window (Johana Bhuiyan / Los Angeles Times)
Thousands of cars protest in caravan through Oakland
Johana Bhuiyan | The Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2020
“‘We’re in the middle of a pandemic that is inequitably and disproportionately impacting black and brown bodies, so it’s important for us to have different ways to protest,’ [Cat] Brooks said. ‘Not everybody wants to get out there and get tear-gassed or get out there and risk getting [COVID-19]. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not just as enraged as everybody else. They just need a way to protect themselves.’”
A person in the backseat of a car holds a sign reading “Oakland to Minneapolis: Solidarity Against Police Terror” (Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle)
Oakland caravan demands justice for George Floyd, others
Rusty Simmons | The San Francisco Chronicle, May 31, 2020
“The Anti Police-Terror Project, which organized the caravan, estimates that law enforcement officers have killed more than 5,500 people in the past 5 ½ years.
“‘The vast majority of these people do not receive the level of attention the George Floyd case has,’ the group said in a statement. ‘If more people here knew that law enforcement kills at least one black person in the United States every single day, there would be real change instead of hollow thoughts and prayers.’”